Life on the Vine

So long 2009 and hello 2010.  Thinking back over this last year and a lot has happened.  I spent the first five months in Iraq, completing a 7 month deployment.  You can read about that at my other blog .  And now I've spent the last 3 months here in Germany.    Ever since I can remember, I have wanted the opportunity to live overseas and more specifically, live in Germany.  When I was 6 years old my dad got orders to Germany (he's retired Air Force) but his orders were changed and we ended up going to Alaska instead.  Now Alaska was a great place to live but I think the 'almost' move to Germany planted a seed in me that never went away.  So now, here I am, more than 20 years later, finally living in Germany.  It's a strange thing getting what you've always wanted or thought you always wanted. And, regarding my public affairs job with U.S. Africa Command ...that too is something I have wanted for a couple years now.  In 2007 when I read about the creation of

A lot has happened in the weeks since I last posted a blog. On December 1st I received our household goods and got moved into our apartment here in Stuttgart.  Everything went smoothly although it did take almost two weeks before I found all the sofa pillows. Tom, who had been traveling for 9 weeks doing consulting work for a family friend, returned to Germany on the 13th.  He got back just in time to hardly see me for a whole week as last week was my busiest week since starting with U.S. Africa Command.  I definitely need to do a blog that covers some of the things I've been doing at work but for now I want to blog about our outing yesterday. The USO here in Stuttgart offers trips.  Last month I signed Tom and me up for our first USO outing, a day trip to Dresden. We caught the bus at 2 a.m. Saturday morning and we were back this morning around 12:30 a.m.  The main attraction was the Christmas market, which has been going on for more than 600 years.  It is the longest runnin

Okay, I figured out the problem with my video. It has been at least two years since I last wore ice skates but I can't think of a more fun way to get back on the ice than at an outdoor ice rink here in downtown Stuttgart. The weather was just gorgeous and couldn't beat the ambiance. Doing the video work is Nicole, the wife of one of my co-workers. She is from Wisconsin if you are wondering about the accent.

Months before arriving in Germany I had tons of people, who had lived in Germany once themselves, preparing me for how much the Germans love Christmas.  Every city hosts its own Christmas market, which is a collection of vendors - gifts, clothes, food, etc.  I am quickly learning that the Germans love their festivals.  So, needless to say I was looking forward to my first experience at a German Christmas Market.    I had also been told about this stuff called Glühwein, which they also sell at the Christmas markets.  It is heated red wine, with cloves and cinnamon and usually lemon or orange juice.  The neat thing too about the Glühwein is that each town has its own glass that the wine is served in.  You can either return the glass and get your deposit back or you can keep them as a type of souvenir.  Last night I went to my very first Christmas Market in downtown Stuttgart.  It is definitely worth going at night when all the Christmas lights are on and the weather couldn't have

Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.  Hard to believe that this time last year I was in Iraq celebrating Thanksgiving in Baghdad's International Zone.  Now here I am in Germany.  Tom and I will be spending our second Thanksgiving apart but he will be spending the long weekend with Maxwell and I'll be here getting things ready to move into our apartment.  So, we have many things to be thankful. Here at U.S. Africa Command the Public Affairs Office is very diverse.  There is a U.S. Air Force major and staff sergeant; an Army colonel and major; a Navy lieutenant and petty officer, civilians, contractors and a language specialist from Morocco, who speaks English, French and Arabic.  The Navy lieutenant and his wife have invited those of us in the office with no plans to come over to their home for Thanksgiving dinner.  Should be a great time. Happy Thanksgiving! 

As part of my three week in-processing, I went to a week-long program called Head Start.  In the class we learned some introductory German phrases, learned about German culture and customs, and also did a day trip to downtown Stuttgart.  While we were downtown we went into City Hall.  On the entry wall there are these coat-of-arms type plaques showing all of Stuttgart's sister/partner cities.  And guess what?  St. Louis, Missouri is a sister city.  I also find it interesting that my area code in St. Louis was 314 and now, here in Germany, my DSN (which is a military phone system) three digit prefix is 314.  Nice to have these small touches of home even while living across an ocean.

Soon after arriving in Germany I crossed paths with Ritter Sport and since our introduction we have forged a beautiful friendship. Now, don't worry.  I'm not trading Tommy in for some guy named Ritter.  Ritter Sport is a company based in Waldenbuch, just south of Stuttgart, and they are in the wonderfully delicious business of making Schokolade, aka CHOCOLATE!!!!!! The Ritter Sport chocolate bars come in a beautiful array of flavors...one of my favorites is rum flavored chocolate with nuts and raisins.  Yummy!  I would hate to have to account for how many bars I have consumed since arriving here 6 weeks ago. I may have heard this before but probably thought it was just a saying, but it is a scientific fact that there is something special about chocolate.  In fact the Cacao plant's scientific name is 'Theobroma cacao' and Theobroma means "food of the gods."  And, before I go any further, let me also add that the delectable sweet does have health bene

I'm sure some of you might have given up on me and my twice promised posting of photos taken on Columbus Day at the Ludwigsburg Palace.  So sorry for the delay.  I'm going to give some facts about the palace and then share some photos.  I've got lots of other things to share so I may do another post this weekend.  I have been in the office for 3 weeks now so I can tell you a bit about how things are going at work AND I got the total blessing of flying down to Malta for a long weekend last weekend to see Tom. So...Ludwigsburg Palace. The palace is one of Europe's largest preserved Baroque palaces...I heard it referred to as the "Swabian Versailles."  Swabian is a term used for the part of Germany that Stuttgart is in.  The palace was built by Duke Eberhard Ludwig between 1704 and 1733.  It has 452 rooms (we got to walk through almost 100) in 18 buildings.  The grounds are surrounded by the permanent Blooming Baroque Garden.  Other noted occupants, who also

It's been almost two weeks since I journeyed to Ludwigsburg Palace for the palace tour and to visit the annual Pumpkin Festival.  It was really nice getting out and seeing something over the long Columbus Day weekend. Apparently this is the world's largest pumpkin exhibit - some 500,000 kürbis, which is the German word for pumpkin.  All different shapes, sizes and colors.  It seems they have a theme for each festival and this year's was fairy tales.  I didn't recognize some of the stories.  Here are a few. The Pied Piper is below.  You can't tell very well but even the mice are pumpkins.  Yes, gray pumpkins! Here is Gulliver's Travels...the part where he is tied down by the Lilliputians. Behind me you'll see three characters...this is Hansel and Gretel and the evil woman trying to lure them into her home. Each exhibit had a storyboard.  Here is the one for Hansel and Gretel.  I can't remember which fairy tale this was but

I'm told that the Germans take any opportunity to celebrate and hold a festival.  Over the long weekend I got to take in two local festivals.  The first one was the Cannstatter Volksfest, an annual two-week festival.  The locals in Stuttgart commonly call it Cannstatter Wasen.  It is supposedly the second largest beer festival in Germany behind Oktoberfest in Munich. A wonderful couple that Tom and I met here at the hotel journeyed down to the festival grounds with me on Saturday, as Tom headed back to the States Saturday morning.  We traveled on the U-bahn, a terrific railway system here in Stuttgart.  People openly drink alcohol on public transportation and the sight and sound of empty beer bottles rolling around the floor of the train car was the ambiance as we neared the fairgrounds. I didn't know what to expect at my first beer festival but it was essentially a giant carnival.  There were lots of rides, including two Ferris wheels, roller coasters, carousels and free f

Week two of in-processing couldn't have gone better.  In-processing included a day and a half of briefings, a tour of several hospitals in the area (familiarizing us with the medical system here), and finished off with driver's orientation and training.  After the class everyone took a written test (100 questions).  The test is a mix of True and False questions, multiple choice and about 20 signs.  In order to pass you can miss no more than 15 questions.  I'm happy to report that I now have my license.  Tom will have to retake it when he returns as he missed 16 questions. Other big news for Tom and me this week is that we have a contract on our house in St. Louis and should close on the sale by the end of the month.  We have also found a very nice place here in Stuttgart that has great access to work, the airport and Stuttgart's great public transportation system.  Since I am now the proud bearer of a U.S. Forces Europe Certificate of License, I thought I'd shar